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15 - Chateau and Country Life in France by Mary King Waddington · Chateau and Country Life in France

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  Speaker 1: Section fifteen of Chateau and country Life in France. This
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  Speaker 1: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
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  Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox dot org. Recording by Lucy Kempton. Chateau and country
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  Speaker 1: Life in France by Mary King Waddington, Chapter eight a
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  Speaker 1: corner of Normandy Banol de Laune, July August. It is
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  Speaker 1: lovely looking out of my window this morning, so green
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  Speaker 1: and cool and quiet. I had my pretty Dejenet on
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  Speaker 1: my balcony, a big tree in the garden making perfect shade,
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  Speaker 1: and a wealth of green wood and meadow in every direction,
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  Speaker 1: so resting to the eyes. After the Paris asphalt, it
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  Speaker 1: seems a very quiet little place, scarcely anything passing, a
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  Speaker 1: big omnibus going I suppose, to the baths, and a
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  Speaker 1: butcher's cart. For the last ten minutes I have been
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  Speaker 1: watching a nice looking sunburned girl with a big straw
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  Speaker 1: hat tied down over her ears, who is vainly endeavoring
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  Speaker 1: to get her small donkey cart piled high with fruit
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  Speaker 1: and vegetables, up a slight incline to the gate of
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  Speaker 1: a villa just opposite. She has been struggling for some time, pulling, talking,
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  Speaker 1: and red with the exertion. One or two workmen have
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  Speaker 1: come to her assistance, but they can't do anything either.
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  Speaker 1: The donkey's mind is made up. There is an animated conversation.
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  Speaker 1: I am too high up to hear what they say.
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  Speaker 1: Finally she leaves her cart, ties up her fruit in
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  Speaker 1: her apron, balances a basket of eggs with one hand
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  Speaker 1: on her head, and disappears into the garden behind the gate.
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  Speaker 1: No one comes along, and the cart is quite unmolested.
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  Speaker 1: I think I should have gone down myself if I
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  Speaker 1: had seen any one making off with any of the fruit.
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  Speaker 1: It is a delightful change from the hot, stuffy August
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  Speaker 1: Paris I left. Yes, Yes, today my street is absolutely deserted,
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  Speaker 1: every house closed except mine, the sun shining down hard
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  Speaker 1: on the white pavement, and perfect stillness all day. The
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  Speaker 1: evenings from seven till ten are indescribable, a horror of
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  Speaker 1: musical concierges with accordions a favorite French instrument. They all
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  Speaker 1: sit outside their doors with their families and friends, playing
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  Speaker 1: and singing all the popular songs, and at intervals all
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  Speaker 1: joining in a loud chorus of viampopool grooms are teaching
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  Speaker 1: lady friends to ride bicycles. A lot of barking, yapping
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  Speaker 1: fox terriers running alongside. There is a lively cross conversation
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  Speaker 1: going on from one side of the street to the other,
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  Speaker 1: my own concierge and chauffeur contributing largely. Of course, my
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  Speaker 1: balcony is untenable, and I am obliged to sit inside
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  Speaker 1: until happily sleep descends upon them. They all vanish and
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  Speaker 1: the street relapses into perfect silence. I am delighted to
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  Speaker 1: find myself in this quiet little Norman bathing place, just
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  Speaker 1: getting known to the French and foreign public. It is
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  Speaker 1: hardly a village. A collection of villas, small houses, shops,
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  Speaker 1: and two enormous hotels surrounding the atably small seems to
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  Speaker 1: have sprung up quite suddenly and casually in the midst
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  Speaker 1: of the green fields and woods shut in on all sides,
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  Speaker 1: almost by the forest of our Den, which makes a
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  Speaker 1: beautiful curtain of Verdueu. There are villas dotted about everywhere
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  Speaker 1: of every possible style, Norman chalets, white and gray with
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  Speaker 1: the black cross beams that one is so familiar with.
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  Speaker 1: All over this part of the country English cottages with
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  Speaker 1: verandahs and bow windows, three or four rather pretentious looking
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  Speaker 1: buildings with high perns, and one or two terraces. Gardens
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  Speaker 1: with no very pretty flowers, principally red geraniums, some standing
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  Speaker 1: back in a nice little green wood, some directly on
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  Speaker 1: the road with benches along the fence so that the
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  Speaker 1: inhabitants can see the passers by and get all the
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  Speaker 1: dust of the roads. But there isn't much passing, even
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  Speaker 1: in these days of automobiles. There are two trains from Paris,
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  Speaker 1: arriving at two in the afternoon and at eleven at night.
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  Speaker 1: The run down from Paris, especially after Dreux, is charming,
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  Speaker 1: almost like driving through a park. The meadows are beautifully
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  Speaker 1: green and the trees very fine, the whole country very
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  Speaker 1: like England in appearance, recalling it all the time, particularly
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  Speaker 1: when we saw pretty gray old farmhouses in the distance,
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  Speaker 1: and every now and then a fine Norman steeple. There
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  Speaker 1: are two rival hotels and various small pensions and family houses.
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  Speaker 1: We are staying at the Grand, which is very comfortable.
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  Speaker 1: There is a splendid terrace overlooking the lake. Rather an
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  Speaker 1: ambitious name for the big pond which does, however, add
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  Speaker 1: to the picture rasqueness of the place, particularly at night,
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  Speaker 1: when all the lights are reflected in the water. The
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  Speaker 1: whole hotel adjourns there after dinner, and people walk up
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  Speaker 1: and down and listen to the music until ten o'clock.
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  Speaker 1: After that there is a decided falling off of the Beaumonde.
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  Speaker 1: Many people take their bath at half past five in
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  Speaker 1: the morning and are quite ready to go to bed early.
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  Speaker 1: The walk down in the early morning is charming through
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  Speaker 1: a broad shaded alley Alleida Dante. I wonder why it
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  Speaker 1: is called that. I don't suppose the poet ever took
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  Speaker 1: warm baths or douches in any description of a tablismall.
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  Speaker 1: I remember the tale we were always told when we
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  Speaker 1: were children, and rebelled against the perpetual cleansing and washing
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  Speaker 1: that went on in the nursery of the Italian countess,
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  Speaker 1: who said she would be ashamed if she couldn't do
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  Speaker 1: all her washing in a glass of water. It is
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  Speaker 1: rather amusing to see all the types. I don't think
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  Speaker 1: there are many foreigners. I hear very little English spoke,
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  Speaker 1: though they tell me there are some English here. We
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  Speaker 1: certainly don't look our best in the early morning. But
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  Speaker 1: the women stand the test better than the men with
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  Speaker 1: big hats, veils and the long cloaks they wear. Now
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  Speaker 1: they pass muster very well and don't really look any
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  Speaker 1: worse than when they are attired for a spin in
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  Speaker 1: an open auto. But the men, with no waistcoats, a
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  Speaker 1: foulard around their throats, and a very dejected air don't
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  Speaker 1: have a tall the conquering hero appearance that one likes
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  Speaker 1: to see in the stronger sex. The atablisment is large
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  Speaker 1: and fairly good, but nothing like what one finds in
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  Speaker 1: the Austrian and German baths. When I first go in,
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  Speaker 1: coming out of the fresh morning air, I am rather
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  Speaker 1: oppressed with the smell of hot air, damp clothing, and
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  Speaker 1: many people crowded into little hot bathrooms. There are terrible
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  Speaker 1: little dark closets called cabinet de ropeau. Many doctors in
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  Speaker 1: white waistcoats and red ribbons are walking about, plenty of
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  Speaker 1: beyna with their sleeves rolled up, showing a red arm
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  Speaker 1: that evidently has been constantly in the water. People who
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  Speaker 1: have had their baths and are resting wrapped up in
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  Speaker 1: blankets stretched out on long chairs near the windows bells
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  Speaker 1: going all the time, cries of Marie Louise, Jeanne, Anne Marie.
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  Speaker 1: It is rather a pandemonium. Ourbeigneurs, who is called Marie
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  Speaker 1: Louise is upstairs. At the top of the stairs there
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  Speaker 1: is a grand picture of the horse who discovered the
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  Speaker 1: Baniol waters. A beautiful white beast standing in a spring
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  Speaker 1: all water, lilies and sparkling water. A lovely young lady
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  Speaker 1: in a transparent green garment with roses over each ear
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  Speaker 1: like the head dress one sees on Japanese women, is
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  Speaker 1: holding his bridle. The legend says that a certain gallant
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  Speaker 1: and amorous Knight of Yow, having become old and crippled
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  Speaker 1: with rheumatism, and unable to make a brave show in
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  Speaker 1: tournaments under fair lady's eyes, determined to retire from the
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  Speaker 1: world and to leave his horse, faithful companion of many jousts,
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  Speaker 1: in a certain green meadow traversed by a babbling brook,
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  Speaker 1: where he could end his days in peace. What was
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  Speaker 1: his surprise some months later to find his horse quietly
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  Speaker 1: standing again in his old stable, his legs firm and straight,
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  Speaker 1: his skin glossy, quite renovated. The master took himself off
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  Speaker 1: to the meadow, investigated the quality of the water, bathed himself,
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  Speaker 1: and began life anew with straightened limbs and quickened pulses.
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  Speaker 1: The waters certainly do wonders. We see every day people
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  Speaker 1: who had arrived on crutches or walking with canes, quite
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  Speaker 1: discarding them after a course of baths. The hotel is full,
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  Speaker 1: mostly French, but there are, of course some exceptions. We
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  Speaker 1: have a tall and stately royal princess with two daughters
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  Speaker 1: and a niece. The girls are charming, simple, pretty, and
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  Speaker 1: everly much pleased to be away for a little while
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  Speaker 1: from court life and etiquette. They make their curet quite
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  Speaker 1: regularly like any one else, walking and sitting in the
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  Speaker 1: alle d'ante. The people don't stare at them too much.
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  Speaker 1: There are one or two well known men deputies montbre
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  Speaker 1: de l'Institute, but of course women are in the majority.
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  Speaker 1: There is a band, not very good as the performers,
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  Speaker 1: some of them good enough alone, had never played before
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  Speaker 1: until they came here. However, it isn't of much consequence,
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  Speaker 1: as no one listens. I make friends with them as usual.
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  Speaker 1: Something always draws me to artists. The boy at the
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  Speaker 1: piano looks so thin, really, as if he did not
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  Speaker 1: get enough to eat. He plays very well, told me
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  Speaker 1: he was a premier prix of the concer Rerotois de Madrid.
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  Speaker 1: When one thinks of the hours of work and fatigue
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  Speaker 1: that means, it is rather pathetic to see him contented
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  Speaker 1: to earn a few francs a night, pounding away at
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  Speaker 1: a piano and generally with a cake walk danced by
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  Speaker 1: some enterprising young people, with all sorts of remarkable steps
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  Speaker 1: and gestures which would certainly astonish the original Negro performers
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  Speaker 1: on a plantation. The view from the terrace at night
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  Speaker 1: is pretty, quantities of light twinkling about among the trees
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  Speaker 1: and beyond, always on each side and in front the
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  Speaker 1: thick green walls of the forest, quite shutting in the
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  Speaker 1: quiet little place. We are usually the last outside. It
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  Speaker 1: grows cooler as the evening gets on, and I fancy
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  Speaker 1: it is not wise to sit out too late after
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  Speaker 1: the hot bath and fatigue of the day. It is
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  Speaker 1: splendid automobiling country, and every afternoon there is a goodly
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  Speaker 1: show of motors of all sizes and makes waiting to
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  Speaker 1: take their owners on some of the many interesting excursions
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  Speaker 1: which abound in this neighborhood. We have an English friend
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  Speaker 1: who has brought over his automobile, a capital one English make,
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  Speaker 1: and we have been out several times with him. The
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  Speaker 1: other day we went to don France, a lovely road
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  Speaker 1: almost all the way through woods, the forest of Odin,
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  Speaker 1: with its fine old trees making splendid shade. We passed
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  Speaker 1: through the Atoals, well known to all the hunting men
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  Speaker 1: as it is a favorite rendezvous de chasse. It is
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  Speaker 1: a lovely part of the forest, a great green space
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  Speaker 1: with alleys running off into the woods in all directions,
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  Speaker 1: Some of them where the ground was a little hilly,
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  Speaker 1: looked like beautiful green paths going straight up to the clouds.
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  Speaker 1: We kept in the forest almost all the way as
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  Speaker 1: we got near Don France, the road rising all the time,
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  Speaker 1: quite steep at the end, which however, made no perceptible
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  Speaker 1: difference in our speed. The big auto galloped up all
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  Speaker 1: the hills quite smoothly and with no effort. It was
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  Speaker 1: a divine view as we finally emerged from the woods,
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  Speaker 1: Miles of beautiful green meadows and hedges stretching away on
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  Speaker 1: each side, and a blue line of hills in the distance.
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  Speaker 1: We had been told that we could see Mon Saint
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  Speaker 1: Michel and the sea with our glasses, but we didn't,
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  Speaker 1: though the day was very clear. D'anfran is a very
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  Speaker 1: old walled town with round towers and a great square
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  Speaker 1: donjon perched on the top of a mountain. A long
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  Speaker 1: stretch of solid wall is still there, and some of
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  Speaker 1: the old towers are converted into modern dwellings. It looked
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  Speaker 1: out of place to see ordinary lace curtains tied back
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  Speaker 1: with a ribbon, and pots of red geraniums in the high,
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  Speaker 1: narrow windows, when one thought of the rough, grim soldiers
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  Speaker 1: armed to the teeth who have stood for hours in
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  Speaker 1: those same windows, watching anxiously for the first glimpse of
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  Speaker 1: an armed band appearing at the edge of the meadows.
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  Speaker 1: The chateau must have been a fine feudal fortress in
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  Speaker 1: its time, and has sheltered many great personages. William the Conqueror,
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  Speaker 1: of course, he has apparently lived in every chateau and
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  Speaker 1: sailed from every harbor in this part of Normandy. Charles ninth,
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  Speaker 1: Catherine de Medici, and the Montgomery who killed Henry the
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  Speaker 1: Second in tournament. It was too early to go home,
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  Speaker 1: so we went on to the Chateau de Laseae. We
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  Speaker 1: raced through pretty little, clean gray villages, looking peaceful and
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  Speaker 1: sleepy and deserted, and evidently quite accustomed to automobiles. No
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  Speaker 1: one took much notice of us. There were only a
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  Speaker 1: few old people and children in the streets. All the
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  Speaker 1: men were working in the fields, gathering in their harvest.
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  Speaker 1: Laseae is quite a place, with hotels, shops, churches, and
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  Speaker 1: an old Benedictine convent. We left the auto in the
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  Speaker 1: square as it couldn't get up the narrow, steep little
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  Speaker 1: road to the hotel. There were swarms of beggars of
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  Speaker 1: all ages, old women, girls, children lining the road Before
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  Speaker 1: we got to the chateau. Monsieur b deputy, who was
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  Speaker 1: with us, remonstrated vigorously, particularly with stout, sturdy young women
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  Speaker 1: who were pursuing us, but they didn't care a bit
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  Speaker 1: and we got rid of them once we had crossed
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  Speaker 1: the moat and drawbridge and got into the courtyard, where
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  Speaker 1: a wrinkled and red cheeked old woman locked the door
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  Speaker 1: after us. The chateau is almost entirely in ruins, but
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  Speaker 1: must have been splendid. There is a sort of modern
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  Speaker 1: dwelling house in the inner court, but I fancy the
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  Speaker 1: proprietor rarely lives there. It is enormous. There are eight
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  Speaker 1: massive round towers connected by a courteen little green path
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  Speaker 1: that runs along the top of the ramparts. The big
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  Speaker 1: door that opens on the park is modern and makes
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  Speaker 1: decidedly poor effect after the fine old pointed doorway that
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  Speaker 1: gives access to the great courtyard. The park. With a
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  Speaker 1: little care and a little money spent on it would
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  Speaker 1: be beautiful, but it is quite wild and uncared for.
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  Speaker 1: There are splendid old trees, some of them covered entirely
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  Speaker 1: with ivy, growing straight up into the branches and giving
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  Speaker 1: a most peculiar effect to the trees. Ragged green paths
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  Speaker 1: leading to woods, running waters with little bridges thrown over them.
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  Speaker 1: A splendid vegetation everywhere, almost a jungle in some places,
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  Speaker 1: all utterly neglected. The old woman took us through the
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  Speaker 1: chasmat dark stone galleries with little narrow slits for windows
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  Speaker 1: or to fire through. They used to run all round
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  Speaker 1: the house, connected by a subterranean passage, but they are
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  Speaker 1: now like all the rest, half in ruins. It was
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  Speaker 1: most interesting. We had not the energy any of us
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  Speaker 1: to go up into the tower and see the view.
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  Speaker 1: We had seen it all the way, culminating at Don
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  Speaker 1: France on the top of the mountain. And though very beautiful,
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  Speaker 1: it is always the same, great stretches of green fields,
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  Speaker 1: hedges and fine trees. It is a little too peaceful
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  Speaker 1: and monotonous for my taste. I like something bolder and wilder.
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  Speaker 1: A high granite cliff standing out in the sea, with
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  Speaker 1: the great Atlantic rollers breaking perpetually against it appeals to
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  Speaker 1: me much more than green fields and cows standing placidly
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  Speaker 1: in little clear brooks, and clean, comfortable farmhouses with pretty
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: gray Norman steeples rising out of the woods. But my
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  Speaker 1: companions were certainly not of my opinion, and were enchanted
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  Speaker 1: with the Norman landscape. We had a long ride back
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  Speaker 1: in the soft evening light. I am afraid to say
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  Speaker 1: how many kilomets we went in the three hours we
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  Speaker 1: were away. It has been warm these last days. There
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  Speaker 1: is a bit of road absolutely without shade of any kind.
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  Speaker 1: We have to pass every time we go to the
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  Speaker 1: atably small, which is very trying. I love the early
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  Speaker 1: morning walk. Everything is so fresh, and the air singularly
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  Speaker 1: light and pure. It seems wicked to go into that
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  Speaker 1: atmosphere of hot air and suffering humanity which greets one
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: on the threshold of the bath house. To day I
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: have been driving with the princess. She does not like
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  Speaker 1: the automobile when she is making a cure, says it
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  Speaker 1: shakes her too much. We had a pretty drive past
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  Speaker 1: the Chateau of Coutn, which is most picturesque. A beautiful
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  Speaker 1: beech avenue leads up to the house, which is built
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  Speaker 1: of brick, with round towers and a large pond or
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: lake which comes right up to the walls. It is
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  Speaker 1: of the sixteenth century and has been inhabited ever since
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: by the same family. One of the ancestors was Chevalier,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: a poet of Queen Marguerite of Navarre. I had a
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: nice talk with the princess about everything and everybody. I
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: asked her if she had ever read The Lightning Conductor,
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: as her own auto is a napier. I thought it
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  Speaker 1: would interest her. I told her all the poutin little
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: Gossip of the hotel, that people said her youngest daughter
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: was going to marry the King of Spain, and the
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: general verdict was that the princess would make a beautiful queen.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: Everyone is horror struck at the murder of the Russian
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: Minister of the Interior, and I suppose it is only
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  Speaker 1: a beginning. This afternoon I have been walking in the
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: lovely woods at the back of the Etablissamon. It is
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  Speaker 1: rather a steep climb to get to the point of view,
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  Speaker 1: and troublesome walking, as the paths are dry and slippery,
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  Speaker 1: and the roots of the pine trees that spread out
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  Speaker 1: over the paths catch one's heels. Sometimes some people spend
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  Speaker 1: all their day high up in the pines, take up books, seats,
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  Speaker 1: work and goute, and only come down after six when
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: the air gets cooler. We saw parties seated about in
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  Speaker 1: all directions, and had glimpses of the white dresses, which
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: are a uniform this year, flitting through the trees. It
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: was very pretty, but not like the walls of Marianbad,
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: with the splendid black pine forest all around, and every
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: now and then a glimpse of a green elm high
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: field on the top of a mountain, with the peasant
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: girl in her high Tyrillian hat and clean white chemisette
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: standing on the edge, with her cows all behind her,
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  Speaker 1: and the bells tinkling in the distance. It was so
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  Speaker 1: warm this evening that we sat out until ten o'clock.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: We had a visit from the Comte de je son
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  Speaker 1: in law of our friend Missus eyre Less. He lives
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  Speaker 1: at Douville, and had announced himself for Monday morning for breakfast.
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  Speaker 1: At twelve He did come for breakfast, but on Tuesday morning,
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: having been on route since Monday morning, at seven o'clock
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: he was in an automobile, and everything happened to him
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: that can happen to an automobile except an absolute smash.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: He punctured, his tires, had a big hole in his reservoir,
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: his steering gear bent, his bougie always doing something they
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: oughtn't to. He dined and slept at Falaise, rather a
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: sketchy repast, but as he told us, he could always
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: get along with poached eggs, could eat six in an
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: ordinary way and twelve in an emergency. We were reassured,
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: for one can always get eggs and milk in Normandy.
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: He arrived in a perfectly good humor and made himself
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: very pleasant. Is an old soldier, a cavalry officer, and
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: doesn't mind roughing it. The journey from Doville to baniol
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: is usually accomplished in three or four hours. Falaise, the
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: birthplace of William the Conqueror, is an interesting old town,
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: but looks as if it had been asleep ever since
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: that great event. The old castle is very fine, stands
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: high close to the edge of the cliff, so that
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: the rock seems to form part of the great walls.
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: There is one fine round tower, and always the grass.
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: Walk around the ramparts. The views are beautiful. Looking down
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: from one of the narrow pointed windows, still fairly preserved,
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: we had the classic Norman landscape at our feet, beautiful
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: green fields, enormous trees making spots of black shade in
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: the bright grass, the river sparkling in the sunshine, winding
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: through the meadows, a group of washerwomen busy and chattering,
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: beating their clothes on the flat stones where the river
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: narrows a little under the castle walls, and a bright
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: blue sky overhead. We walked through the grande Place, picturesque enough.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: On one side the church of Latrinitay, and in the
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: middle of the place the bronze equestrian statue of William
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: the Conqueror. It is very spirited. He is in full
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: armor lance in hand, his horse plunging forward toward imaginary enemies.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: They say the figure was copied from Queen Matilde's famous
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: tapestries at Bayeu, but it looked more modern to me.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: I remember all the men and beasts and ships of
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: those tapestries looked most extraordinary as to shape. Monsieur R
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: took over the young princesses the other day in his auto.
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: They were very keen to see the cradle of their race.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: It was curious to see the descendants of the great
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: rough soldier starting in an auto. Fresh pretty English girls
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: dressed in the troteaus little short skirts that we all
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: wear in the country, carrying their kodaks and sketching materials.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: All this part of the country teems with legends of
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: the great warrior. Years ago. When we were at Doville,
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: we drove over to Deve for breakfast. One gets a
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: very good breakfast at the little hotel. We wandered about
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: afterward down to the sea. William the Conqueror is said
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: to have sailed from Deve and into the little church,
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: where the names of all the barons who accompanied him
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: to England are written on tablets on the walls. We
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: saw various relics and places associated with him, and talked
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: naturally a great deal about the conqueror. On the way home,
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: we were a large party in a break. One of
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: our compatriots, a nice young fellow whose early education had
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: evidently not been very comprehensive, turned to me, saying, do
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: tell me what did that fellow conquer? I could hardly
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: believe my own ears, But unfortunately for him, just at
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: that moment we were walking up a steep hill, and
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: everybody in the carriage overheard his remark. It was received
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: with such shouts of laughter that any explanation was difficult,
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: and one may imagine the jokes and the numerous and
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: fabulous conquests that were instantly put down to the Great
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: Duke's account. The poor fellow was quite bewildered. However, I
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: don't know if an American is bound to know any
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: history but that of his own country. I am quite
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: sure that many people in the carriage didn't know whom
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: Pocahontas married, nor what part she played in the early
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: days of America. But it was funny all the same.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: We have been out again this afternoon in Monsieur R's auto.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: A charming turn. We started out by the atoal as
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: Monsieur R wanted to show it to some gentlemen who
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: were with us. The drive, if anything, was more lovely
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: than the first time. The slanting rays of the sun
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: were so beautiful, shining through the rich green foliage, making
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: patterns upon the hard white road. We raced all over
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: the country, through countless little villages, all exactly alike, sometimes
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: flying past a stately old brick chateau just seen at
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: the end of a long beach avenue, sometimes past an
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: old church standing high, its gray stone steeple showing well
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: against the bright, cloudless sky, and a little graveyard stretching
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: along the hillside. The roads bordered on each side with
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: high green banks and hedges, the orchards full of apple trees,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: and the whole active population of the village in the fields.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: It is a beautiful month to be in Normandy, for
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: one must have sun in these parts. As soon as
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: it rains, everything is gray and cold and melancholy. The
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: forest looks like a great high black wall, The meadows
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: are shrouded in mist, and the damp strikes through one
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: Now it is smiling, sunny, peaceful. We have frightened various
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: horses to day, a quiet old gray steed driven by
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: two old ladies in black bonnets. They were too old
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: to get out and were driving their horse timidly and
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: nervously into the ditch in their anxiety to give us
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: all the road. However, we slowed up and the horse
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: didn't look as if he could run away. Two big
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: cart horses too, at the end of a long line
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: dragging a heavy wagon turned short round and almost ran
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: into us. Also, a very small donkey driven by a
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: little brown girl showed symptoms of flight. I don't know
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: the names of half the villages we passed through. Near Baol,
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: we came to La Ferte Massee, which looks quite imposing
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: as one comes down upon it from the top of
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: a long hill. The church makes a great effect, looks
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: almost like a cathedral. Baniol looked very animated. As we
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: came back. People were loitering about, shopping, quite a number
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: of carriages and autos before the door of the Grand Hotel,
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: and people sitting out under the trees in the gardens
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: of the different villas. It was decidedly cool at the
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: end of our outing. I was glad to have my coat.
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: This morning, after breakfast in the big hall where every
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: one congregates for coffee. We had a little political talk,
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: not very satisfactory. Everybody is discontented and everybody protests, but
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: no one seems able to stop the radical current. The
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: rupture with the Vatican has come at last, and I
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: think might have been avoided if they had been a
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: little more patient. In Rome. There will be all sorts
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: of complications and bitter feeling. And I don't quite see
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: what benefit the country at large will get from the
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: present state of things. A general feeling of irritation and uncertainty,
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: higher taxes, for they must build schoolhouses and pay lay teachers,
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: and country cures. A whole generation of children cannot be
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: allowed to grow up without religious instruction of any kind.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: I can understand how the association of certain religious orders
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: men could be mischievous, harmful even but I am quite
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: sure that no one in his heart believes any harm
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: of the women sur de charite and teachers who areccupy
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: themselves with the old people, the sick, and the children
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: in our little town. They have sent away an old
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: sister who had taught and generally looked after three generations
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: of children. When she was expelled. She had been fifty
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: years in the town and was teaching the grandchildren of
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: her first scholars. Everybody knew her, everybody loved her. When
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: any one was ill or in trouble, she was always
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: the first person sent for. Now there is at the
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: school an intelligent, well educated young laikh with all the
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: necessary brevet. I dare say she will teach the children
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: very well, but her task ends with the clothes of
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: her class. She doesn't go to church, doesn't know the people,
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: doesn't interest herself in all their little affairs, and will
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: never have the position and the influence the old religiers had.
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: I am sorry to go away from this quiet, little
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: green corner of Normandy, but we have taken the requisite
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: number of baths. Everyone rushes off as soon as the
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: last bath. Twenty first, generally is Countess f took her
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: twenty first at six o'clock this morning and left at ten.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: End of section fifteen. Recording by Lucy Kempton